Bag-fastener.



0. HIERING & A. FULLER.

BA G FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED DEO.14, 190e,

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

' WIT/(E8858:

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE.

CHRISTIAN HIERING AND ALBERT FULLER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TOTHE J. E. MERGOTT COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

BAG-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHRISTIAN HIERING and ALBERT FULLER, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the city of Newark, in the county ofEssex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bag-Fasteners, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make, construct, and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of our invention is to construct a fastener for use uponbags, pocket books, and other similar devices, the same comprisingpreferably a chambered base, having a recessed or out out portion in itsfront and rear walls, and provided with a spring catch member, therebyproducing a neat appearance with no possibility of becoming inoperativethrough careless manipulation.

In carrying out our invention, we make use of the structure illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a frontelevation of one form of the fastener in which we have embodied ourinvention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a bottomplan view. Fig. at is a vertical section taken on line 00-50 of Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a plan view of the operating spring-catch; and Fig. 6 is afront elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference refer to like parts throughout thespecification and drawings.

In the structure illustrated, we make use of but two separate parts,namely, the chambered base a and the combined spring and catch member 6.The chambered base a which may be of any desired form or configuration,is rigidly secured by means of the rivets c to one of the bag framemembers as (Z.

The front and rear walls of the chambered base a are recessed or cutaway as at f and g, for the reception of the rectangular limbs orflanges of the combined spring and catch member 6.

The combined spring and catch member I) is formed from a single flatpiece of metal centrally chambered as illustrated and having theintegral inturned spring tongues 72; formed by cutting away from pointsremote from the ends of the piece of metal toward the ends asillustrated inFig. 5, with such tongues upwardly bent in oppositedirections from the camber of the metal. The inner ends of the springtongues h are designed to bear against the upper and inner surfaces ofthe chambered base a.

2' is a rectangular limb or flange extending from one side of thecombined spring and catch member adapted to pass through the cut awayportion f of the chambered base a, serving as an admirable means forpreventing accidental separation of the catch member from the base whenthe parts are assembled, through careless manipulation, and j is afinger piece of any convenient design extending from the other side ofthe combined spring and catch member and adapted to operate in the cutaway portion 9 of the base a.

In the forward portion of the catch member b, we have provided theindentations k to receive corresponding projections Z upon the bag framemember 6, so that when the bag frame members are closed as illustratedin the several figures, such projections will be received into theindentations k and firmly secure the bag frame members in lockedposition. If pressure now is brought to bear upon the finger piece j,said finger piece will be pressed toward the chambered base a, swingingabout the corner of the rectangular limb or flange 2', as a fulcrum,thereby elevating the forward portion of the combined spring and catch 6and causing the indentations 7.: to clear the projections Z upon the bagframe member 6. This particular form of catch with the rectangularflange or limb i passing through the cut away portion f of the base awhen in place on the bag frame member will not become inoperative orseparated from the base a through careless manipulation.

It will thus be seen that we have provided a fastener in which we havereduced the actual number of parts to two, and that when assembled, andin position upon a bag frame or other device, the possibilities of theparts becoming separated by careless manipulation have been reduced to aminimum. The parts are of such shape as to lend themselves readily tomanufacture by the use of suitable punches and dies from ordinary sheetmetal.

To claim:

1. In a bag fastener, the combination of a chambered base and a catchmember having a spring integrally formed therewith, one limb of saidcatch member fulcrumed and extending through a cut-away portion in therear wall of said base, the other limb of said catch member extending.through a cutaway portion in the front wall of said base.

2. In a bag fastener, the combination of a base having a chamber in itsunderside, and having a portion of its front and rear walls cut -away,and a catch member having a spring integrally formed therewith fulcrumedand extending through the cut-away portion in the rear wall of saidbase, the other limb of said catch member extending through the cut-awayportion in the front wall of said base.

3. In a bag fastener, the combination of a chambered base, a catchmember having a spring integrally formed therewith, one limb of saidcatch member fulcrumed and extending through a cut-away portion in therear wall of said base, the other limb of said catch member extendingthrough a cut-away portion in the front wall of said base, and integralspring tongues formed on said catch member designed to bear againsttheupper and inner surface of the chambered base.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a catch member consisting of a pieceof metal having a spring integrally formed therewith, inturned springtongues cut away from the body of said piece of metal and integralflanges extending from said piece of metal.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a catch member having a springintegrally formed therewith and integral limbs extending from said catchmember.

This specification signed and witnessed this 11th day of December 1908.

CHRISTIAN HIERING. ALBERT FULLER. l/Vitnesses FREDK. C. FISCHER,

W. H. CoNKLIN.

